Hazards in Uniqueness
by Anniexus
Summary: Chakotay finds out about the failsafe device. Just a short dabble in writing.


Title: "Hazards of Uniqueness"  
Author: Annie.  
Email: anniexus  
Pairing: Chakotay/Seven of Nine  
Rating/Codes: PG, Drama  
Summary: Chakotay learns about the failsafe trigger.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or these characters nor do I make money off this. I just borrow them for my own enjoyment.

Warning: Kissing (nothing graphic).  
Notes: Please forgive any spelling or grammatical mistakes.

Seven entered the spacious and bright apartment she shared with Chakotay. As per her habit, she set down her work bag and then opened the window to let in air breezing through the courtyard's trees. Then she looked around for Chakotay. He usually beat her home and started dinner as though to prove to her that he could cook without her guidance, but the apartment was quite empty.

Frowning, she finally noticed a red light blinking on their computer console. She sat down and played the message.

Chakotay's face, set against the familiar line of shelves in his office, smiled at her. "Hi Seven, I tried calling you, but your coworkers said you were incommunicado all day. I'll be late coming home. Tom and B'Elanna are in town and asked to meet for drinks after work before they go visit Admiral Paris. We won't be too long, but please join us if you can make it to Stephane's Café by 1500 hours."

Seven noted the time and was disappointed to realize the timing was impossible. Oh well, she thought, I can make a nice dinner for us. There were some recipes her office assistant, Dhal Randhawa, had provided that Seven wanted to try. The recipes had supposedly been passed down through Dhal's female line for generations. They were an engagement present.

"I'll see you soon. I love you." Chakotay gave a last smile and then signed off.

"I love you too," Seven said to the last glimpse of Chakotay. She knew it was irrelevant to say so to a computer screen, but it made her feel inexplicably better. With a sigh she stood and went to the kitchen to see what supplies they had.

XXX

The café was one of those wood and plush velvet attempts to recapture the past without giving up the tastes and assumptions of the present. Enormous windows with crystals strung up randomly provided plenty of light and colour, shining off the metal machines and polished counters.

Despite the late afternoon hour, the café was still busy. Every seat was taken, full of chatting people and studious students. In one corner, set apart from the rest of the patrons sat Chakotay, Tom, B'Elanna and Miral. The adults were enjoying coffee and tea while Miral played on the floor, occasionally handing one of her toys to her new friend, Chakotay.

"So, Chakotay, you've grilled us on our lives," said Tom with a grin.

"Yes, I think it's your turn," said B'Elanna. She watched Miral hand Chakotay a stuffed bear. "How is everything going?"

"Really good actually." He jiggled the bear in front of Miral's upheld doll so it appeared they were conversing or dancing… no one but the giggling Miral could be sure. "My project is going ahead so Seven and I will be relocating in two months. I have to admit it's going to be an adjustment, but I think we'll enjoy it."

"The Doctor gave her the go ahead then?" Tom asked lightly if with some surprise. Chakotay's brow furrowed in confusion.

"We were both cleared by Starfleet Medical as per regulations," said Chakotay slowly.

"No," Tom chuckled carelessly, "I meant-" Tom stopped abruptly as he noticed Chakotay's incomprehension.

B'Elanna and Tom looked at each other, suddenly uncertain.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," said B'Elanna, "I – we thought Seven was still under the Doctor's medical supervision."

"And why would you think that?" Chakotay's confusion was turning to wariness, a feeling that the mere mention of the Doctor was creating in him with increasing regularity. Just the previous week the Doctor had insisted Seven see him for her tenth exam in a month. While Chakotay was only too aware that Seven's unique physical attributes required more careful maintenance, he had long suspected that the Doctor liked to play up the importance of physical exams to spend more time with her. As though to add fuel to Chakotay's suspicions, Seven had returned after her last exam extremely late at night and explained the Doctor insisted on taking her to dinner. If Seven were a less constant woman, Chakotay might have grown jealous. As it was, he was merely irked on her behalf and uncertain what to do.

"Didn't you see the article he wrote for Starfleet Medical?" B'Elanna looked truly worried now.

Chakotay shook his head.

"I'm sure it's nothing then," said Tom with an unconvincing smile. "Just some boring re-counting of some radial clamp alignment I guess."

"Do you want more tea?" B'Elanna stood, but sank back down when Chakotay frowned at her in a way she hadn't seen since their Maquis days. "Don't be mad."

"How can I be angry when I have no idea what you're talking about?" he asked, but there was a growing edge to his voice.

Tom and B'Elanna both avoided his steady gaze, feeling like naughty children. Miral, clueless as to what was going on, took back her bear and wordlessly handed Chakotay a doll.

"I can look it up myself, you know."

"Fine." B'Elanna took a PADD out from her bag. She typed in some commands and handed it to him. "The Doctor sent it to us this morning. I don't think he knew we'd be seeing you so soon."

Chakotay read the article, skipping over the Doctor's medical and grandiose details. A failsafe for emotions. That's what the sum of the article came to. It wasn't as bad a situation as Chakotay had begun to fear, but he couldn't help wondering why Seven didn't tell him about it and what further medical issues she was keeping from him. Perhaps her frequent visits to the Doctor were for something more than general maintenance like she claimed. Perhaps she was still under strict supervision as the article indicated. Their trip would be off; he wouldn't consider going without her any more than he would put her life in danger.

Then a horrible thought struck him. Maybe Seven hadn't told him because she thought she couldn't, because she had been leaning on the Doctor as her emotional support, because she reciprocated the Doctor's romantic feelings.

Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face for B'Elanna leaned forward and placed a kind hand on his knee. "Are you all right?"

"I just find this… disturbing."

"Well," said Tom, "knowing the Doctor, it's probably also greatly exaggerated."

Chakotay didn't feel much better, but he gave Tom a smirk and moved the conversation on to other things.

XXX

Seven heard the door slide open and peered around the wall separating the kitchen from the entrance.

"Hey," Chakotay said as he noticed the blond head appear. He couldn't look at her too long though before the concerns about her relationship with the Doctor popped back into his head.

"Hello, how was your day?" Seven returned to the stove and so didn't notice Chakotay's distraction.

"Interesting." He put his coat away and sat at the kitchen table, watching Seven's graceful figure move from stove to fridge to cupboard. Her easy movements and calm presence made him feel more grounded, more like his earlier fears were insubstantial. "That smells good. What are you making?"

"I'm sure you'll recognize it." Seven smiled at him. He returned it, but half-heartedly.

"Maybe."

"Are you all right?" Seven finally noticed his discomfort.

"I'm fine." He took a deep breath. "But something did come up when I was with Tom and B'Elanna."

Seven turned off the stove, trusting the sauce to finish cooking from the residual heat, and joined Chakotay at the table. His hands remained clenched together instead of taking hers as she wished he would, as was their habit.

"I saw the Doctor's latest article from Starfleet Medical." Chakotay raised his eyes to Seven's face, expecting some sort of reaction without suspicion of what it would be. She merely raised the brow encased by her metal implant.

With a sigh Chakotay took out a PADD and handed it to her. She read the explicit and embarrassingly accurate and revealing report of how the Doctor removed her emotional failsafe. Her cheeks coloured and it wasn't just from embarrassment. It would be awhile before she would speak to her colleague again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Seven looked back up at Chakotay, heart clenching at the mixture of hurt and disappointment in his tone. "The Doctor performed the surgery on Voyager. You remember me telling you about the… social experiments I conducted?"

Chakotay nodded, almost smiling as he remembered how flattered he'd been to hear Seven of Nine had felt him worthy to experiment with romantically. He'd been charmed by her embarrassed explanation, assuring her that he wasn't angry before kissing her thoroughly enough to make her forget the rest of her apology.

"The surgery went well and I didn't think about it afterwards," she said truthfully. She'd had enough surgeries for Borg components that it had quickly faded into the background of her memory. Like many things, it had seemed irrelevant when there were no complications or further inhibitions to her emotional passions. She said as much, but Chakotay didn't look convinced.

"The report says you're still under the Doctor's supervision. Is that why you've been seeing him so often, or is there another reason?"

"There were no complications with the surgery and I have been functioning appropriately besides a few minor adjustments," she admitted.

"That's all?"

"He…" Seven took a deep, steadying breath and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "He has been insistent about our appointments, but I am uncertain as to the reason for them. I – I do not fully believe his assertion that they are necessary."

"You haven't been experiencing any physical discomfort at all that he might be taking care of or monitoring?" Chakotay made sure to keep his tone level.

"Nothing." She gathered her courage and took his hand in her human one, drawing comfort from the physical contact as she smoothed the wrinkles of his knuckles over and over again.

Despite himself, Chakotay smiled.

"What?"

"You haven't been exactly happy every time you've come back from a visit with the Doctor."

"No," she admitted. "It takes time from work or personal time with you."

"But you haven't refused him."

"It seemed rude after all he's done for me, though I am uncertain why he insists on scheduling medical appointments when there is nothing physically wrong with me."

Chakotay couldn't help it. He chuckled. "Seven, as brilliant as the Doctor is, he's not the swiftest when it comes to social cues or subtlety."

Seven was confused. "He was charged with teaching me social nuances."

"Yes, but you forget that he was activated not terribly long before you were released from the Collective and he was created by a man not known for his own etiquette. I'm not minimizing what he did for you, but I don't think you should underestimate your own experiences and feelings."

"I don't understand."

"I think you do. You know why he's been so insistent when you both have better things to do."

"You think he still has feelings for me?" It wasn't anything Seven hadn't contemplated, but saying it out loud to Chakotay made it seem more real and more viable than before.

"Seven, how could he not?" He pulled her hand up and kissed her fingers. "I wouldn't let you go easily either." He smiled as a rosy blush spread across her cheeks.

"Then you forgive me for not informing you of the procedure to remove the failsafe?"

"I will if you promise me one thing."

"I promise." She gazed at him with clear, honest, blue eyes. Chakotay was incredibly grateful for her lack of guile just then. He knew there were few women who would promise without knowing the conditions first.

"If you have any other operations or procedures, please tell me." Seven nodded and then became lost in the feel of Chakotay's lips on hers.

"You know, the Doctor didn't put my name in the report. If I weren't so unique, you wouldn't have known it was me."

Chakotay smiled, eying the metal around her forehead and touching the silver weaving on her hand. He leaned in for another kiss. "Maybe I like that about you."


End file.
